Internet gambling is a growing industry. As a result of advances in computer technology and telecommunications, Internet gaming systems have been devised in which a player can participate in a plurality of games of chance being offered by a gambling establishment without being physically located on the premises. The Internet offers easy and inexpensive access to a variety of gambling services, bringing competition to an industry that has long operated under highly restrictive licensing practices. Thanks to the Internet, players no longer have to fly to Las Vegas to play the slots, drive to the nearest authorized track to play the horses, or even walk to the corner store to play the lottery. Players can now play those or other games at home via the many Internet sites that offer gambling products or services. Since the mid-1990s, Internet gambling operators have established approximately 1,800 e-gaming Web sites in locations outside the United States, and global revenues from Internet gaming are projected to be between $8.7 Billion to $42.8 Billion over the next ten years. The legal framework for regulating Internet gaming in the United States and overseas is complex. U.S. law as it applies to Internet gaming involves both state and federal statutes. In general, gambling is regulated at the state level, with each state determining whether individuals can gamble within its borders and whether gaming businesses can legally operate there. Five states (Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota) have enacted laws that specifically prohibit certain aspects of Internet gambling, but laws in other states that prohibit some types of gambling activities generally apply to Internet gaming as well. Federal law recognizes that state laws vary and seeks to ensure that neither Interstate nor foreign commerce is used to circumvent them.
As late as 2006, federal legislation found that Internet gaming presents a “growing cause of debt collection problems” for financial institutions, including depository banks and the consumer credit card industry. In addition, given that the vast majority of the Internet gaming companies are located in foreign countries—where federal, state and local regulation, oversight and taxation is impossible—a number of commentators suggested that recent legislation embodied a protectionist reaction to an industry practically immune from domestic control. As Internet gaming companies, players and a potential tax base continue to operate outside the jurisdictional reach of federal and state governments, a practical and useful solution would be to encourage the domestication of these different interests, operations and factions. Bringing the gaming companies, players and governmental authorities into one state, territory or forum will advance a number of constructive objectives. First, the gaming industry will benefit from uniform regulation and oversight. Second, the federal, state, territory or local forum will benefit from the exposure to a tax base that previously did not exist. Third, the gaming companies, governmental authorities and players will benefit from an organization or entity that will be responsible for allocating and collecting the taxes and fees associated with or placed on the gaming. Finally, players will be permitted to responsibly enjoy an activity and pastime that was recently curtailed due to a lack of proper or appropriate control mechanisms. In order to accomplish these goals and benefits, a system and method must be developed to transfigure foreign and/or interstate wagering into an intrastate, sanctioned activity.
Americans love to gamble. At least fifty-six (56%) percent of Americans gambled in 1995. Having already embraced traditional games of chance, Americans are certainly extending a warm welcome to Internet gambling, legal or not. The prior art failed to address this growing need. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,638 to Jay Walker et al. discloses a secure improved remote gaming system whereby a player can gamble against a wagering establishment or state-run lottery from a remote location on a personal computer or portable device where it is unnecessary to establish an on-line connection with a host computer associated with the wagering establishment.
While such a system provides a means by which a player can gamble from a remote location, it failed to address the taxation, debt collection and regulatory oversight issues currently associated with Internet gambling. It would, therefore, be highly desirable to provide a remote gaming system allowing a player to legally engage in gambling on a gaming computer at a remote location, at the player's convenience.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system to transfigure foreign or interstate wagering to an intrastate sanctioned activity.